The Dark Ascension
by Merrill Stubing
Summary: Set 800 years before the Battle of Yavin. Tells the story of how a young padawan embraced the dark side and became Darth Sidious ...


_It's a trap_.

Martin stood paralyzed, frozen in time by the thought, feeling the sinking sensation in his stomach. A small gasp escaped his lips and bounced around the ancient walls of the forgotten tomb where his master had brought him.

His thoughts twirled, conjuring broken, confused images and taping them together in a loose tapestry that pictured a startling revelation -one that brought panic. He had been fooled, lured, and caught. His meditations had not been working. His master, who taught him the ways of the Jedi by day and illuminated _other _ways by night, had turned back to the light; yes, that was the sense he received now. Darth Plagueis the Wise had thrown aside his legendary power and had made the impossible journey back to the welcoming embrace of the Jedi Council, and he had turned over his young apprentice at the apogee of his training.

He resolved to stand against that which he had hated for twenty years. He was the last now, the last in a long, thin line of dark sorcerers, and he would fight the Jedi with it. If he failed, every secret and every whisper of the shadows would die with him.

Yoda was the first to emerge from the darkness of the tomb, circling the last resting place of some long dead Sith Lord. A twisted wooden cane quietly echoed his tiny steps.

"Much fear I sense in you, Padawan Blake. Now that your master has embraced goodness, you fear that the dark knowledge you have learned will be lost forever. Think about your training, you must. If reformed your mind is, forever inaccessible the secrets of the Sith will be. Much safer, the galaxy will become."

Yoda's kindness was sickening, like the stomach-wrenching effects of too many sweets, but his gruff voice danced around Martin's fear convincingly. Martin closed his eyes and felt the fire of tears.

_Perhaps the galaxy _would _be better without the dark teachings. Perhaps I _should _turn myself over to the will of the council. _

"Of course you should," a soft female voice assured. Martin looked to his right and saw the beautiful silhouette of Layn Bastile, a fellow Padawan and his secret, dangerous lover. Her dazzling blue eyes locked his, and he felt his pulse quicken and his will shatter in that deep ocean. "Come back to us. Come back to the order you once loved."

He felt her warm embrace on his right hand, and a slight gasp fell from his violently shaking face as her fingers locked with his.

Her gaze broke, and he followed her eyes to the entrance of the tomb, where his master both in light and in darkness now stood, Sith robe gone, the cloak of the Jedi Master he had long pretended to be in its place.

"Martin. You thought your training as a Sith would be complete today, but instead it is your last step to become a Jedi Knight. Let go of the teachings we once embraced and end the threat of the Sith forever."

Betrayal. The ultimate betrayal. But their _words … _the caring hand that held his … they all threatened to send his years of secret training into twilight.

He fought bitterly, and forced to the surface the dreams he had been having.

_The galaxy, _he thought. _Give up the throne of the galaxy? So what if it takes a millennium. I _will _be there, and the Chosen One _will _be at my side. _

That decided it.

Layn's voice had time to offer two words: "I want … "

Without even a breath of hesitation, Martin drew his lightsaber with his left hand and ignited it mid-swing, cutting Layn down in a haze of blue. Her hand still clasped his as she dropped soundlessly.

Martin whirled, striking downward with blind rage, and in the blood-coated world beyond his angry eyes he saw his sword catch Yoda a split-second before his tiny green hand could flip his lightsaber switch. Yoda's mouth had only the time to drop wide open as his body fell in two halves to the ground.

Giving himself completely to the Force, Martin used his momentum and backflipped perfectly across the tomb, sword outstretched for his master's neck. The lightning move would have felled all but a few of the most trained Masters, but Nate Tanu was one of them. He easily blocked his apprentice's strike and pushed the agile shadow back with the Force.

"_Enough," _he barked, but Martin flew at him, lightsaber raised, crying out in rage.

In three slippery moves, Martin was disarmed and Force-struck, falling on his back with a hollow thud. He was still crying out when his master brought a ruby saber inches from his neck.

"You have done well, my young apprentice. You have faced the greatest challenge of the Dark Side and you have embraced it. Your training as a Sith is complete." He brought his blade in with a hiss and turned unceremoniously toward the tomb's exit.

Martin, still raged, still breathing heavily, and more than slightly confused, propped himself up on his hands and looked around the darkened, musty room. Layn's body was gone, as was Yoda's.

His confusion cleared. They were simply illusions, of course; visions of his mind brought to stunning life by the Dark Side presence. It was all a test, and he had passed.

"Your name will be Darth Sidious," Tanu said without turning, leaving his emotionally stricken protégé behind. "I suppose you've been sleeping with the blonde, and you have done well in hiding it from me.We Sith have worked hard to hide ourselves in the halls of the Jedi for two centuries. If you tell her anything," Tanu paused curiously, looking back at his Padawan as he propped open the tomb's seal again, "I'll slay you in your sleep."

His long shadow exited the tomb and met the thankless Korriban sun.

_Arrogant as always, even in my greatest moment of triumph, _Martin thought, unconsciously caressing his lightsaber hilt as he picked it up from the dusty floor. _His time will come soon, and I will rightfully take the fool's place. _He thought not with the longing of vengeance, but with the Force-given knowledge that he would someday make that thought come true.

But not even Martin Blake, who was more gifted in foresight than any Jedi ever was or would be, could see how soon that day would come.


End file.
